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Halide Mark II

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Re: Halide Mark II

#81

Post by jmenter »

LeoNatan25 wrote: post #79
jmenter wrote: post #78

I was never a fan of the first version of this app, despite being a mobile app developer and a photography nerd. I paid for and tried the initial version (Mark I?) a year or two ago, and, aside from a few manual settings and RAW capture it didn't do a whole lot beyond what the stock photo app did, and Halide's UI was a bit worse to boot. But whatever. Now I re-download Halide (the version I paid for a year or two ago…

Just tested. It let me photograph with the location permission disabled just fine. Maybe you are hitting a bug. I agree about the subscription annoyance. It tells me I have “Free updates until Oct 23 2021” but still bombarded me with “subscribe” on launch! I find this predatory.

It could be that photo library access was the hard constraint. I wasn't going to allow that until I got to play around with the app. I'll try again and re-assess.

Re: Halide Mark II

#82

Post by sandofsky »

jmenter wrote: post #78

I was never a fan of the first version of this app, despite being a mobile app developer and a photography nerd. I paid for and tried the initial version (Mark I?) a year or two ago, and, aside from a few manual settings and RAW capture it didn't do a whole lot beyond what the stock photo app did, and Halide's UI was a bit worse to boot. But whatever. Now I re-download Halide (the version I paid for a year or two ago…

Developer here. The only time we show you the permission screen is if the two critical permissions, Photo Library and Camera, are not granted. Location is completely optional, but allows you to geo tag photos. If you find that isn't the case, that's absolutely a bug, and we'll look into what's going on.

Re: Halide Mark II

#83

Post by kingnight »

jmenter wrote: post #78

I was never a fan of the first version of this app, despite being a mobile app developer and a photography nerd. I paid for and tried the initial version (Mark I?) a year or two ago, and, aside from a few manual settings and RAW capture it didn't do a whole lot beyond what the stock photo app did, and Halide's UI was a bit worse to boot. But whatever. Now I re-download Halide (the version I paid for a year or two ago…

While I disagree with the opinion of the application, and think the response to the gating/requirements for use is unfair, there is good feedback for the developers of Halide, and app developers in general to chew on in this comment.

For an app that wants to save photos for the user, how do you do this permissions gating without irritating the cursory view by skeptical user?

For an app that wants to make sure you don't lose any metadata/exif (including location) how can you do that without raising eyebrows for location permissions.

How can you communicate the value prop to convert a subscription? I think the app does a great job for existing users in providing a 1yr automatic subscription (would have thought parent comment would get this) but I also am confused, and will be confused, when that time is up I think.

--

Halide is a incredible application. One of my favorites. I don't use it as much as I could benefit from it because of the problem of it not having the same immediate access as the native camera app does, but also it does not include Live Photo capture which for me and moments with friends and family is essential. That said, it's the best built app I have on my phone, the best design, provides path to incredible photography results, and I will continue to pay for it.

Re: Halide Mark II

#84

Post by LeoNatan25 »

jmenter wrote: post #81
LeoNatan25 wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just tested. It let me photograph with the location permission disabled just fine. Maybe you are hitting a bug. I agree about the subscription annoyance. It tells me I have “Free updates until Oct 23 2021” but still bombarded me with “subscribe” on launch! I find this predatory.

It could be that photo library access was the hard constraint. I wasn't going to allow that until I got to play around with the app. I'll try again and re-assess.

Yes, it’s library access. Just tested. You can, however, on iOS 14, grant it selective access with no selection, which will basically give it a write-only access.

Re: Halide Mark II

#85

Post by jmenter »

sandofsky wrote: post #82
jmenter wrote: post #78

I was never a fan of the first version of this app, despite being a mobile app developer and a photography nerd. I paid for and tried the initial version (Mark I?) a year or two ago, and, aside from a few manual settings and RAW capture it didn't do a whole lot beyond what the stock photo app did, and Halide's UI was a bit worse to boot. But whatever. Now I re-download Halide (the version I paid for a year or two ago…

Developer here. The only time we show you the permission screen is if the two critical permissions, Photo Library and Camera, are not granted. Location is completely optional, but allows you to geo tag photos. If you find that isn't the case, that's absolutely a bug, and we'll look into what's going on.

Sorry, I made an assumption (that all three permissions were necessary) after granting camera permissions but not photo library or location permissions. The UI was not clear about what was actually required, and the "Continue" button was enabled but didn't get me anywhere.

Look, it's 2020 and tech is getting so human-hostile in so many different ways. I think it behooves us to make sure there's always a way our software can be used no matter how restrictive our users are with permissions.

Thanks for your response.

Re: Halide Mark II

#86

Post by wl »

perardi wrote: post #57
r-r-r wrote: post #13

Oh I thought this was a new release of https://halide-lang.org/ but it's a photography app for iphone. Funny enough, this language is actually useful for optimized image processing pipelines, especially when targeting such "uniform" devices.

I think Halide is a great name for this app’s target audience: photo nerds. (I know of which I speak. I carry around a Fuji X100F when I walk the dog.) This app ain’t no Snapchat clone so you can give yourself cat eyes and freakishly smooth skin. It trying to suck as much data and control as possible out of the iPhone’s camera system. And for the people who are into that, they get the name.

Speaking for myself as a photo nerd, the name annoys me because the app has nothing to do with silver halide. And for my own bona fides, I haul a large format camera out into the world on a regular basis and develop the film in my bathroom.

Re: Halide Mark II

#87

Post by jmenter »

sandofsky wrote: post #82
jmenter wrote: post #78

I was never a fan of the first version of this app, despite being a mobile app developer and a photography nerd. I paid for and tried the initial version (Mark I?) a year or two ago, and, aside from a few manual settings and RAW capture it didn't do a whole lot beyond what the stock photo app did, and Halide's UI was a bit worse to boot. But whatever. Now I re-download Halide (the version I paid for a year or two ago…

Developer here. The only time we show you the permission screen is if the two critical permissions, Photo Library and Camera, are not granted. Location is completely optional, but allows you to geo tag photos. If you find that isn't the case, that's absolutely a bug, and we'll look into what's going on.

Did the price of Halide just jump from $5 (or, $3 as I paid in 2017 according to my receipt) to $30?

Re: Halide Mark II

#89

Post by p1necone »

codezero wrote: post #14
mortenjorck wrote: post #8

Good on the Lux team for making it optional, but this is yet another app that wouldn’t have needed to introduce a subscription model if Apple would just relent on its unbending services push and add a mechanism for paid upgrades to the App Store.

I wonder if Apple is pushing this because subscription models potentially provide more long term value? Apple apps tend to need regular updates to stay valid/relevant over long periods of time and early on Apple had a lot of "abandoned" apps in the app store - subscriptions 1) keep the app developer funded/engaged 2) keep the user hooked / showing explicit value or bailing. Fwiw, I agree, I am getting tired of the pe…

Apple shouldn't be forcing 3rd party devs to use any particular business model regardless of how much sense it makes.

Re: Halide Mark II

#90

Post by poyu »

I bought Halide when it first came out. As a photography enthusiast, having trying out the app for a bit, I came to the conclusion that phone photography should be kept as simple as possible. While having advance options is great, the reason I carry a phone and not a camera on that certain occasion is because of its simplicity. I don't want to mess with aperture, exposure or focusing, etc. while on the go. If I wanted to do that I would bring my camera. So, yet I think there will be people who's excited for this kind of app, I see it has no use for me personally. It's a nice app though, and no doubt there will be people enjoying it, but the default iOS app does a good job for what I want.
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